A replica of the historic ship HMS Bounty, is moored beside the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, M.D. / AP

by Michael Winter, USA TODAY

by Michael Winter, USA TODAY

The sinking of the replica tall ship HMS Bounty during Hurricane Sandy resulted from the captain's "reckless decision" to try to outrace the storm with a small, inexperienced crew and pumps not working properly, federal safety officials have concluded.

The tri-mast ship, which was built for the 1962 film Mutiny on the Bounty, foundered and sank about 100 miles south of Cape Hatteras, N.C., on Oct. 29, 2012, as Sandy churned up the eastern seaboard.

Coast Guard helicopters rescued 14 of the 16 crew members. One sailor died and the 63-year-old captain, Robin Walbridge, was never found.

In a 16-page report issued Monday, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the sinking of the $4 million ship "was an end to a voyage that should not have been attempted."

"To set sail into an approaching hurricane introduced needless risk," the safety board wrote. The probable cause of the sinking was "the captain's reckless decision to sail the vessel into the well-forecasted path of Hurricane Sandy, which subjected the aging vessel and the inexperienced crew to conditions from which the vessel could not recover."

The agency also faulted the ship's organization for "the lack of effective safety oversight." The ship, whose mission was to help preserve square-rigged sailing, had been up for sale since 2010.

The Bounty left New London, Conn., the night of Oct. 25, bound for St. Petersburg, Fla., where a public appearance was scheduled for Nov. 10. Normally carrying a crew of 20 to 25, the Bounty set sail with 15 crew members -- most inexperienced -- in an apparent effort to outrun Sandy, the NTSB wrote. Walbridge believed "a ship is safer at sea rather than in port during a storm."

He planned to take the Bounty southeast, far out into the Atlantic, and let Sandy pass to the southwest before making its projected landfall in New Jersey.

Ten crew members had worked less than six months aboard the Bounty, and nine had never worked on board any other tall ship. Only Walbridge and and four crew members had more than 2 years' experience with tall ships.

Walbridge did, however, tell crew members they could skip the voyage and rejoin the ship in Florida, at their expense. None left.

The NTSB notes that there was no evidence or testimony to indicate that the captain was under pressure to risk the crew or the ship, pointing out that he could have left after Sandy made landfall and still made the November date in the Florida Gulf.

Walbridge told a Maine TV station that the Bounty "chased hurricanes," explaining that ships that passed close to the eye of a storm could get a boost from its winds.

For the first day and half of the voyage, crew members testified, the Bounty made good progress to the southeast in fair conditions, with no sign of Sandy approaching.

But late the morning of October 27, Walbridge changed course -- without informing the crew why. He turned southwest, setting the Bounty on a path to have it pass ahead of and to the west of Sandy.

The course change may have sealed the ship's fate.

The NTSB writes:

It is possible that the captain may have focused too narrowly on the position of the storm's eye instead of on Sandy 's total expanse (winds associated with the storm spanned more than 1,000 miles in diameter, and the area into which the Bounty was heading was already under tropical storm warnings, with conditions forecasted to worsen). Still, the captain seemed to believe that he could outrace the storm.

By sailing the Bounty down the hurricane's west side ... the captain hoped to take advantage of a following wind pushing the vessel southwest toward its Florida destination. What everyone, especially the captain and senior crew, seemingly failed to anticipate was the damaging effect that prolonged exposure to the storm would have on the wooden vessel.

By early evening on Oct. 28, the Bounty, filling with water its pump could not drain fast enough, was experiencing the hurricane's full fury, but Walbridge ignored his mate's suggestion to call the Coast Guard. But nearly three hours later, with four feet of water in the engine room, Waldridge radioed for help.

At 4 a.m. on Oct. 29, the Bounty heeled over and the crew, wearing survival suits, abandoned ship, eventually making their way into two, 25-person life rafts. Survivors testified to "a life-and-death struggle to swim away from the vessel in the stormy seas."

They were plucked to safety by Coast Guard helicopters.

The last known sighting of the Bounty came 15 hours later and several miles from where it foundered. It sank to the bottom in waters more than 12,000 feet deep.